B2B Saas and fintech are key target groups for Arise GTM, with over 15 years of experience driving growth across all stages of their lifecycle. Specialising in strategy, tactics, and technology, we are fast adopters of change and help senior leaders prepare, manage, and execute AI-led organisational transformations.
As artificial intelligence continues to impact business functions, strategy development stands at the forefront of this metamorphosis. McKinsey's recent analysis reveals how AI is fundamentally changing strategic planning, creating both challenges and opportunities, particularly relevant for B2B SaaS and Fintech leaders.
When examined alongside the ARISE Go-To-Market Methodology, a powerful synergy emerges that offers business leaders a structured approach to navigating the AI-enhanced strategic landscape.
McKinsey's analysis presents a compelling vision of AI's impact on strategy development. According to their research, "Artificial intelligence and generative AI have the potential to transform how strategists work by strengthening and accelerating activities such as analysis and insight generation while mitigating challenges posed by human biases and the social side of strategy". This represents an inflexion point that is as significant as the creation of core strategic frameworks in the 1970s and '80s.
The McKinsey article outlines five key roles for AI in strategy development:
Researcher: AI can gather and enrich data from numerous sources, creating meaningful connections across datasets far more efficiently than human analysts. For example, AI can scan information on millions of companies to create targeted M&A shortlists in minutes.
Interpreter: AI excels at converting disparate data inputs into actionable insights, helping strategists identify growth opportunities and monitor emerging trends before they manifest in sales data.
Thought Partner: AI serves as an effective brainstorming partner that can counteract business leaders' potential biases or blind spots, testing plans against established frameworks.
Simulator: Before committing to strategic decisions, AI can model multiple market scenarios based on macroeconomic conditions and competitor moves, making scenario analysis more rigorous.
Communicator: AI can shape strategic narratives for different audiences and formats, ensuring consistency across various channels.
However, McKinsey also highlights significant challenges in deploying AI for strategy, including the growing importance of proprietary data, the need to separate signal from noise, the value of executive-level synthesis, and the necessity of high-quality strategic processes.
B2B SaaS and Fintech leaders face particular challenges when implementing an AI-enhanced strategy:
Rapid Market Evolution: These sectors experience faster technological change than traditional industries, requiring more agile and responsive strategy development.
Complex Stakeholder Ecosystems: B2B SaaS and Fintech companies must navigate relationships with multiple stakeholders, including end-users, IT decision-makers, and regulatory bodies.
Data Privacy and Security Concerns: Working with sensitive financial and business data introduces additional layers of complexity to strategic planning.
Evolving Business Models: The shift between product-led, sales-led, and hybrid growth models requires sophisticated strategic frameworks that can adapt to changing go-to-market approaches.
Integration Requirements: Strategy must account for how solutions will integrate with customers' existing technology stacks.
The ARISE Go-to-Market Methodology, developed by Paul Sullivan, offers a structured framework specifically designed for B2B Saas and Fintech companies. ARISE is an acronym that stands for Assess, Research, Ideate, Strategise, and Execute. This methodology addresses the fundamental questions at the heart of an effective go-to-market strategy:
How to convey the value of products/services to end users
How to enable buyers to make purchasing decisions
What makes ARISE particularly relevant in the context of AI-enhanced strategy is its integration of technology, data, and established frameworks. The methodology tracks 151 KPIs across marketing, sales, customer success, people, and finance, creating the kind of comprehensive data ecosystem that McKinsey identifies as crucial for differentiated strategic insights.
Importantly, ARISE doesn't just theorise about strategy; it delivers actionable plans in 30-45 days, addressing the speed requirements of today's fast-moving technology markets. The methodology is implemented through Arise GTM's consulting services, which include proprietary tools integrated with HubSpot CRM, making it immediately operational for organisations.
When we cross-reference the ARISE Methodology with McKinsey's five AI roles in strategy, clear alignments emerge:
The "Research" phase of ARISE leverages technology to collect and analyse market information. Arise GTM's integration with HubSpot and other tools enables automated data collection, mirroring McKinsey's vision of AI as a research assistant. This addresses the growing challenge of information overload in strategic planning.
The "Assess" and "Research" stages of ARISE focus on turning raw data into actionable insights about target markets and customer needs. Arise GTM's approach to tracking 151 KPIS exemplifies the kind of comprehensive interpretation that McKinsey suggests AI can provide, especially in identifying patterns across disparate data sources.
The "Ideate" phase of ARISE encourages creative thinking about strategic options. By incorporating AI tools, this stage can be enhanced to challenge assumptions and expand the range of strategic possibilities considered, much as McKinsey envisions AI serving as a "challenger" to highlight potential blind spots1
The "Strategise" component of ARISE involves evaluating strategic options. This aligns with McKinsey's vision of AI as a simulator that can model various scenarios and outcomes before committing resources. Arise GTM's focus on measurable ROI suggests a quantitative approach to strategy evaluation that would benefit from AI-powered simulation.
The "Execute" phase requires clear communication of strategy to stakeholders. ARISE's integration with HubSpot creates opportunities for AI-enhanced communication that tailors messages to different audiences, similar to McKinsey's description of AI as a communicator that can adapt strategic narratives.
Based on both McKinsey's insights and the ARISE Methodology, B2B SaaS and Fintech leaders should consider these practical steps:
Implement a comprehensive framework, such as ARISE, that addresses the full spectrum of go-to-market challenges. This provides the structure necessary to incorporate AI strategically rather than piecemeal.
Following McKinsey's recommendation, develop systems to collect and analyse proprietary data about customers, markets, and competitive moves. The 151 KPIS tracked in ARISE offer a starting point for identifying valuable data points.
As demonstrated by Arise GTM's integration with HubSpot, connecting AI capabilities with your existing technology infrastructure creates operational efficiencies and ensures insights translate to action.
McKinsey emphasises the need for strategists to understand how AI works. Investing in training for strategy teams ensures they can effectively leverage AI tools and interpret their outputs.
Start with specific strategic questions where AI can provide immediate value, such as market sizing or competitor analysis, before expanding to more complex applications.
Both McKinsey and ARISE emphasise that while AI can augment decision-making, human judgment remains essential for strategic courage and commitment1
The convergence of McKinsey's AI strategy framework and methodologies, such as ARISE, points to a future where strategy development becomes both more data-driven and more creative. For B2B Saas and Fintech leaders, this represents an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage through faster and more accurate strategic planning.
As AI capabilities continue to advance, the most successful organisations will be those that effectively combine technological tools with human strategic thinking.
The ARISE Methodology, with its structured approach and technology integration, provides a blueprint for how B2B SaaS and Fintech companies can operationalise McKinsey's vision of AI-enhanced strategy.
In conclusion, the transformation of strategy development through AI is not merely theoretical; it is happening now through methodologies like ARISE, which incorporate technology, data, and human expertise.
By adopting such approaches, B2B SaaS and Fintech leaders can navigate the complexities of their rapidly evolving markets with greater confidence and precision.
By embracing these AI-enhanced strategic initiatives, business leaders can ensure that their organisations survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive and technology-driven business landscape.
The McKinsey article highlights how AI and generative AI are transforming strategy development by accelerating data analysis, generating insights, and helping leaders overcome human biases. AI is increasingly supporting strategists as a researcher, interpreter, thought partner, simulator, and communicator, but human judgment remains essential for crafting and executing strategic vision.
AI enables B2B SaaS and Fintech leaders to analyse markets, forecast trends, and simulate strategic scenarios with greater speed and rigour. It helps identify new opportunities, optimise resource allocation, and monitor execution, making strategy more adaptive and data-driven. However, leaders must still provide direction, make bold decisions, and ensure organisational alignment.
No, AI cannot fully automate business strategy. While AI can automate and augment many analytical and diagnostic tasks, strategic decision-making still requires human insight, creativity, and courage, especially when making high-stakes and hard-to-reverse choices.
McKinsey identifies five roles for AI in strategy:
Researcher: Gathering and connecting data from diverse sources.
Interpreter: Turning data into actionable insights.
Thought Partner: Challenging assumptions and expanding options.
Simulator: Modelling scenarios and predicting outcomes.
Communicator: Tailoring strategic messages for different audiences.
The Arise GTM Methodology integrates data, technology, and structured processes to address go-to-market challenges. It tracks key performance indicators across business functions and leverages tools, such as HubSpot integration, to automate data collection, insight generation, and execution, aligning closely with McKinsey’s vision of AI-augmented strategy.
Key challenges include:
Rapidly evolving markets and technology
Complex stakeholder and regulatory environments
Data privacy and security concerns
The need for flexible, adaptive business models
Integrating AI tools with existing systems and processes.
Arise GTM provides a structured, actionable roadmap for leveraging AI and data in a go-to-market strategy. Their methodology ensures alignment with business objectives, accelerates insight generation, and supports execution with integrated technology solutions, helping leaders make informed, agile decisions in complex environments.
Yes. While AI enhances analysis, simulation, and communication, human leaders are crucial for setting a vision, making bold decisions, and ensuring ethical, context-aware choices. AI is a powerful tool, but it is not a replacement for strategic leadership.
Adopt a structured framework like Arise GTM
Build proprietary data ecosystems
Integrate AI tools with CRM and marketing platforms
Upskill teams in AI literacy and strategic thinking
Start with focused AI use cases, then expand
Maintain human oversight and strategic courage throughout the process.
AI can track performance in real-time, test assumptions, adapt plans quickly, and drive execution momentum by providing continuous feedback and insights, ensuring that the strategy remains aligned with changing market conditions.
Paul Sullivan, Chief Strategist and founder at Arise GTM, is a published author on Go-To-Market Strategy with his book Go To Market Uncovered: How to successfully Launch a Product and Achieve Long-Term Sustainable Revenue Growth, available at all major bookstores and online retailers internationally, published by Wiley.
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